


Together (in a cage)

by Anonymous



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space Mafia, M/M, Sex Slave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-08 16:23:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: For the Frostiron Kinkmeme Prompts, posting about a thousand years later to Ao3:Tony and Thanos are the heads of their respective gangs. Loki is Thanos’ whore. The first time Tony saw Loki? He was riding Thanos’ cock as Tony was ushered in to meet Thanos for business. The first time he talked to him? Thanos offered Tony a use of Loki, which he accepted. Tony plans to take down Thanos, and then keep Loki for his own use.&Aesir!Tony x Jotunn!prostituteLoki, please.





	1. Chapter 1

Thanos’s lair was everything one would expect from the one they called the Lover of Death. It was ugly, dramatic, and it reeked of whatever a Mad Titan’s definition of ‘trying too hard’ was.

All that, Tony had been prepared for. He was here on a mission to negociate with the man, not to enjoy his decorating tastes -thankfully. Thanos’s territory was huge and well guarded. Tony very much needed to get some shipments from Knowhere, and he couldn’t do that without the Titan’s approval. He had made his way to the Sanctuary prepared to deal with more or less anything.

Admittedly, not that.

"Ah -keep going, you know how I love your struggling."

Part of Tony’s brain had stopped at the gross, unexpected sight of Thanos naked, sitting on his golden throne and exposing ugly big purple thighs, an ugly big purple stomach and the ugliest, biggest, purplest dick that could ever be. Because, ew, that was a sight that would never leave him.

But another image that was just as marking and much, much prettier than the previous one was the blue-skinned creature on top of Thanos. It, he did not seem to enjoy his predicament as Thanos enjoyed his, long legs trashing as he struggled to escape. Where Thanos had merely removed parts of his armor, the beautiful thing was fully naked, exposing a flat stomach and chest, thin shoulders and hips, long slender limbs that flailed in all direction, all the purest shade of azur. His face was hard to make out, with black hair covering its features in its mad trashing.

Thanos held the blue pleasure-slave by his hips, and the Titan’s strenght was great indeed : for all his efforts, clawing and scratching at his hands, the blue creature was positively stuck, immobile there as Thanos fucked his large cock into him.

Thanos’ grunts were the only sound filling the large throne room, as Tony stood in vague disbelief and Chitauris soldiers kept guard, unshaken. The slave made no sound at all, but Tony supposed it was more a matter of ability than will : he spotted a large iron collar around his neck, the only part of him not entirely exposed to sight.

Thanos had been at it for a while, and he seemed to near his end. With a deep grunt, he pulled his toy down on his cock and kept him there. When he finally let go of the creature’s hips, and he struggled to free itself so fast it fell down on all four on the ground, long strings of grey-ish, alien cum escaped his gaping hole. He seemed to feel as disgusted as Thanos was obviously satisfied, priorising the effort of getting it out of his cunt over trying to run away from his tormentor.

Disgusted and aroused both, Tony watched the slave clean himself as best as he could. He was a Jötun, he realised soon with shocked familiarity, and not a Kree or some other creature one would have expected to meet in the Quadrant. It was Tony’s strange luck, to be light-years away from Yggdrasil and to meet the enemy of his people in such a place. And yet, Thanos’ sex-thing had a skin blue like a night sky, with deep running silver scars on his face and chest and limbs, and he definitely had both a quim and a cock, all features so unique to the ice-people.

Whatever he was doing here, Tony could only wonder.

"You will learn to enjoy your new life, and thank me for it, pet", Thanos said with a smile, magicking his clothing back upon himself with a wave of his hand. His voice was just as deep when he was not in the tremors of orgasm, a rumble that seemed to shake the very ground.

It did not seem to impress the Jötun. Tony was mildly impressed when the blue-skinned man looked up, fire and fury burning in his crimson eyes as he turned them to Thanos in a glare that spoke of revenge and death. Tony had never thought that a Frost Giant could look good, but, however strange it was to think so in such a moment, he found himself stunned by the sharp, delicate visage of the slave. In Asgard -anywhere in Yggdrasil-, he would have been a treasured thing of beauty, even with his blue skin.

"Do not give me that look. There are worse fates than yours", Thanos said, before he made a dismissing handwave. "Get my toy out of here. I have a guest to meet with."

A Chitauri soldier detached himself from the wall. It caught the slave by his wrist, and the slave, not fighting, followed after a last murderous glare at his master. He did not look at Tony.

Tony would see him again, but not before a while.

Negociating with Thanos was easier, but much slower than expected. The Titan seemed to care as little about proper time management as he cared about money -which was to say, very little. Tony’s early offers, once he had regained some confidence, had been dismissed carelessly. Thanos did not want the money Tony could offer. But what it was he did want, Tony couldn’t seem to figure out.

"Tell me more of Yggdrasil. This Asgard you come from", Thanos prompted during their first discussion.

Tony was not sure how safe that was. He had worked hard to gain control of Asgard. He had barely been an adult, hardly a few centuries old, when he had found out his father figure used Tony’s mind to sell the weapons that started wars around the realm faster than the crown prince Thor could stop them. He had needed longer, after killing Obadiah, to realise that Thor and his father the King were ruining the realm more than war ever had.

Tony was no benevolent ruler, but he was a firm chief to his men. He was the reason why Asgardian men and women were safe. As long as all followed his rules, there was no reason for violence ; and the royals had never been clever enough to figure him out and stop him.

But Thanos gave him no choice, and he had the upper hand there. So Tony spoke, and he spoke well, turning things to his advantage as he told his tale. He spoke of his greatest tricks of defiance to the throne, of his networks of power, and he hoped it would work.

Thanos wanted him to stay. On the first night, after hours of discussion, Tony was given a room. It was cold, damp, an underground cave of purple stone. It was hard to sleep there. As he laid down his head, Tony wondered once more how a Jötun had ended up there.

A few days went on and Tony remained at the so-called Sanctuary. He would be guided to Thanos’ throne every day, formulate his demand again, and Thanos would ask him questions about Yggdrasil and its realms. On the second day, when he arrived, the Jötun pleasure-slave knelt on the floor next to the throne, a nasty cut on his cheek and murder in his eyes. Thanos held his head in place and used his mouth. Tony met his eye, for an instant, when the Chitauri guard dragged him out. It was not a look he could forget. On the second night, he dreamt of a crimson glare and a blazing fire.

On the third day, when Tony came in, the Jötun was on Thanos’s lap. Tony didn’t see his face : he was turned to look at his master. His moves were slow and deliberate as he fucked himself up and down on the giant, purple cock. Thanos let him, his hands resting on the throne’s sides. Tony stared for a minute or so at the subtle curve of where the thin hips met the flat ass, the strain of his legs pushing his weight up and down, the delicate hands resting, away from the Titan’s, and he listened at the wet sound of Thanos’s dick forcing his cunt open again and again. He left without a guard. This time, he stared at Tony the entire time it took him to limp out of the room.

That night, Tony dreamt of long black hair and cold blue hands on his chest.

During his stay, he did not feel hunger or thirst, for some reason. It was fortunate, as he was never offered food, but abnormal, even for his Asgardian body. On the fourth day, during which he had not yet seen the Jötun, when he was done describing Svartalfheim at the Titan’s demand, he dared ask.

"How come I’m feeling fine, even though I didn’t eat since I came here ?"

At this point, he was tired and weary of the Titan, wondering if he was playing a game with him and ever planning to negociate. Jarvis and Rhodey would start worrying. His question might have sounded as annoyed as he was, after giving out a long, useless speech about a dead kingdom. Thanos merely smiled.

"Death does not come in this hall, less I allow her in, » the Mad Titan said. « My guests feel neither hunger nor thirst, and no wound could end your life without my permission, unless I wanted it to."

Tony wanted to object that it was impossible, that no man had the power to push away death. But the rumors about Thanos were many and they always seemed insane, yet held to points that were too strange to be invented.

"That is a mighty power", he said slowly after biting his tongue. "You could keep anything from dying ?"

"Long enough for my taste, yes", Thanos said. "But in the end, my mistress Death deserves the best of gifts. I would not dare play too long and make her wait."

Tony did not know what to answer this madness. He didn’t have to. They had been speaking for hours and Thanos had never once spoken to his soldiers, but as if commanded, a Chitauri appeared at the door, dragging with it the bound Jötun.

Tony half straightened up, certain to be sent away so Thanos could have his fun. He was not sure if he was relieved or disappointed. The images of the naked slave burned themselves into his brain each day with new levels of arousal each time. But his business in Asgard had never touched slave trafficking and his men knew that they would be severely punished, if they were caught forcing themselves on the wives and daughters of men who owed them money. The fierce trashing of the Jötun on the first day was proof enough that he was not here willingly, and just for that, Tony knew he should not have enjoyed imagining the warmth of that cunt around him.

Yet… Well.

"Anthony," Thanos said. Tony was glancing at the Jötun, but he turned his eyes back to the Titan. "I have seen you looking at my pet. He is from Yggdrasil as well, is he not ?"

It was the first time Thanos acknowledged the slave’s existence otherwise than to fuck it. Tony was startled enough that he did not respond immediatly. Thanos chuckled and carried on as the Jötun stopped, five feet away from them.

"Do not fear. My guests do not all end this way. Nay -this one’s name is Loki." Tony turned to look at the Jötun, perhaps expecting to see something other than hatred on his face to hearing his name. It was a foolish, quickly deceived idea. "In the homeland of the Jötuns, Loki here was a runt. A disgrace to a proud race, so I am told, with nothing to offer but a tight cunt to fuck. I suppose it is something, for a while, although eventually, one must grow bored of it. I yet find some fun in its clinging to its pride, but it seems he started demanding too high prices, for I received him a gift from a slave merchant not a moon ago."

Tony kept waiting, not sure what for. Thanos smiled. Loki, for now the pleasure slave had a name, held his head low. Though he could have looked subdued, from a distance, Tony could see his eyes burned under his lashes. Prostitute, slave, pet. A sad progression. Yet Tony saw a pride and determination in those thin shoulders that warriors of Asgard often lacked.

"You will not go hungry or thirsty in my land", continued Thanos. "But I intend to have you here with me for a while, Tony Stark. I want to learn more still of your realm. I fear, in the meanwhile, boredom will grow in you. To avoid this, I would offer you my pet, if you will have it."

A shiver went down his spine, perhaps shock, perhaps arousal. He had to do a conscious effort to stay perfectly still. It was only many years of dealing with criminals of all kind that kept him from showing his reaction. Loki did not blink.

"Lord Titan", Tony said slowly, "we never spoke of I staying this long. Our early correspondance said you wished to hear of my plan for the merchandise before you allowed me to purchase it. All those discussions are not relevant to my needs."

"You know not of what you need", Thanos said, with a dismissive handwave. "You told me your plan, and it is worthless. Yet your mind is great. I will have you stay here as my guest, until I figure out what you can offer me, and what I can offer you."

Tony took a slow, deep breath, refusing to show his inner turmoil. He should have seen this coming. Jarvis and Rhodey had feared this. Now here he was.

"Pleas", Thanos said, and he did not sound like he was pleading at all, "do enjoy my hospitality. You have done much already. It deserves some reward."

Loki was still unmoving, eyes fixed on Tony. He radiated pride and defiance. Fully naked, there was dignity radiating from him.

"Okay", Tony said. "I get to do that in private, right ?"

Thanos allowed it, and they had no escort whatsoever as they made it out of the throne room and to Tony’s. He wondered why that was ; if it was because Thanos was confident they would not try to escape, or if it was because he knew they couldn’t. Loki was entirely silent as he walked, one step ahead of Tony. He seemed to know where he was going. That was good, because for all Tony’s mind was filled with thoughts of danger and capture and how to make it out of here, he seemed to be unable to process any of them as his eyes naturally fell on the Jötun’s ass.

They reached his room sooner than he expected. Loki had Tony walking in first, slammed the door in a gesture of violence that startled the Asgardian, and then stared at him with his deadly red eyes.

Tony swallowed, trying to remember his own mind.

"Hey, uh," he started. "I don’t suppose -I don’t think you actually want to do what the other guy suggested ?"

He felt silly even as he said it. He hoped Thanos was not watching this somehow, for more than one reason. Loki was eyeing him coldly. The collar around his throat kept him silent still. Tony swallowed his saliva. Tony knew he should be considering the best way to contact Jarvis from here. No matter how he tried, though, all he could consider were those thighs.

"Look, um, this is awkward. I’m not interested in forcing you -I’m not forcing, I mean, I’m interested, but I’m not going to do that, unless you want to, but I know you don’t, so how- Oh, oh, uh, okay !"

That last part came out a little more highly pitched than he would allow anyone to know. Careless to the enormous effort Tony did to be a decent being, Loki had walked up straight to him and pushed him hard on his bed to immediatly climb up and straddle his lips.

Tony had trouble breathing for a second. This was all and more that had filled his dreams, more than he could have imagined. Loki’s body radiated cold, yet his naked skin was making Tony’s blood run like liquid fire as it trailed against his own. The Jötun was not exactly heavy, but the way he leaned in with his weight on Tony’s hips made the Asgardian’s world readjust to center around nothing but his presence.

"Loki, uh", Tony tried again tentatively.

He was shut up before he could really start. Loki leaned up over him, and his deep, red eyes bore into his with such an intensity he could barely endure it. His delicate face was worn with fatigue and pain, yet his look burned like a wildfire. The Jötun breathed heavily, and Tony saw the collar digging into his throat. Purple rashes were visible were the iron met the blue flesh.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. They looked at each other in perfect silence.

"I’m not like Thanos", the Asgardian finally murmured, when it became clear Loki was waiting something from him.

A raised eyebrow. Again, Tony felt a wave of admiration for Loki’s obstinate strenght. Had he been there only for a while, that Thanos had yet to break him, or had he kept this up for long ? Tony remembered well Thanos’s words. Death would not come in the Sanctuary, unless the Titan welcomed her -when he was done playing.

"I’m from Yggdrasil. You know that", Tony tried again, forcing himself to breath steadily and focus on Loki’s eyes, not the weight of his body on his crotch. "I don’t plan to stay here."

A voiceless scoff answered him, and Tony needed no translation. Loki clearly did not have much hope in his abilities. Yet, he sat still and waiting. Tony didn’t know what for, but he decided it was a good sign, and he tried his best again :

"I don’t treat my people like that. None of them. I thought I could work with Thanos, but he’s just another level of crazy. I’m getting out of here and back to Asgard. And I’ll take you with me."

He had not known this was a decision he had taken already, but he realised as he spoke it that there really had been no other option. Loki’s red eyes met his, unblinking and intense, and Tony held his breath waiting for his reaction.

Instead, there was a sound -just the smallest sound, so insignificant he would not had minded it at all- outside the door. And whatever it was, it was enough for Loki to suddenly lean down and take his lips into a savage and wet kiss. Tony gave a startled moan as his warm tongue pushed into his mouth, hurried and demanding.

"Lo- mmnh !"

The Jötun held his wrist down with an unexpected strenght when he tried to pull away. His eyes met his again for a brief instant, and for the first time, his look was shaken, worried. It was a warning, and though Tony didn’t know what it meant, he felt the immediate urge to trust Loki.

Truth be told, with all the shame it meant, he was very quick to swallow back his worries and doubts when a cold, slender hand naturally found its way under his tunic and in his leather pants. Loki knew what he was doing, and though it was a terrible thing to think, Tony lost his mind and all his regrets through his fingers.

Loki made him come, and when he was done, he cleaned his fingers on Tony’s sheets. He then turned his back to him and curled on himself. Ashamed and amazed, Tony didn’t dare to move for a few moments, then, carefully, he rolled on his side as well. His hand found the back of Loki’s collar and he felt the Jötun stiffening, before relaxing when he felt Tony pushing his long hair out of the way to take a look. There was no lock there, nor any opening system he could see.

Carefully, he rested his head on the pillow beside Loki’s. Then, when nothing but silence happened, he started to rub his adamantium ring against the metal of the collar, again and again.

His heart burst with relief and satisfaction when Loki leaned in, after a few minutes, seemingly understanding his purpose.

Tony woke the next morning without knowing why, at first. He needed a moment to remember Loki and his collar, and moved in a quick, late rush to try to hide his ring behind his back. Needlessly ; quickly, as he opened his eyes, Tony was greeted with the sight of the Chitauri soldier manhandling the naked Jötun as he struggled.

"Hey -hey ! What’s happening ?" The Asgardian demanded to know, trying to sound confident.

The guard only made a clicking, hissing sound. It might have been the language of the alien, but it was gross no matter what and Tony didn’t get it. He remained on the bed, feeling useless, as Loki was dragged out.

An hour or so later, Tony was in turn taken from the room and brought to Thanos. The fact that Loki was just getting out made him a little sick to his stomach. The Jötun wouldn’t look at him. His cheek was purple and the Chitauri had to force him to walk.

"So, Tony Stark", Thanos grinned as he welcomed him. Tony feared they had been discovered, feared revenge and pain. But the Titan only gestured for him to sit, as he did everyday. "I trust you enjoyed my pet ?"

Tony’s relief was not great enough to outgrow the sudden, possessive wave of anger and impatience he felt at hearing such a thing. And as he smiled and told Thanos that, yes, he had, thank you, his heart filled with anger.

Oh, he was not just taking Loki out of here. He was burning this place to the ground on his way out, and he would see the fire and death in Loki’s eyes coming to life. Thanos loved hearing himself speaking too much to keep his slaves silent, Tony thought. Loki’s voice was more than words. It was magic and it was a magic Thanos was afraid of. It was that magic that would kill the Titan.

Loki, Tony thought, would be absolutely beautiful when he would unleash chaos and death in this place. And when he did, Tony would be there, and he would watch.

He did love madness and power more than he loved submission and pain. That was why he would win and Thanos would lose.

When together they were free, then Tony would court the Jötun with the fire eyes


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is... Moar!

From the start, Tony had known Loki was fierce. The fire in the dark that was the Jötun was impossible to miss; it was in the fury in his eyes like these of a wounded wolf, in the stillness of his stance like a panther preparing to strike its prey.

He had admired it. Desired it, too. He had shamefully enjoyed their couplings, knowing how Loki was forcing himself to it. With his eyes shut, he had made himself still, made himself quiet as his fellow prisonner fucked himself on him, and tried not to see what would be rage and murder on his sharp visage. He wanted Loki to be his ally. He also couldn't stop himself from feeling uncontrolable excitation everytime Thanos forced his slave in Tony's arms, telling him to be a good pet and to please the Asgardian.

Loki obeyed, but it meant nothing. Now he obeyed Thanos too, sucking him in the middle of his throne room or moving on his cock with his eyes somewhere distant and rageful. Tony didn't know exactly what was being done to Loki when he wasn't there to make him compliant now as he hadn't been when they had first met. He could only guess, from the pristine smoothness of his pale skin, that it took more than a beating or the threat of a whip to make him so docile. There were the occasionnal bruises and cut, where Thanos' strong gloved hands dug into his flesh or slapped at his delicate-looking face, but Loki treated them like he didn't notice. And yet, he obeyed.

Well, it had been another incitative to get the fuck out of here as fast as possible.

Thanos met with Tony on a daily basis. Everyday, he asked about Yggdrasil, about Asgard's weaknesses and the primitive Midgard, about dead Svartalfheim and the fires of Muspelheim. Tony had stopped trying to plead his case of simply purchasing the palladium stones that had brought him here in the first place, instead trying to get answers out of Thanos about his goals. The Titan simply smiled, ignoring his questions with deceptive pleasantness until Tony could no longer stand it.

“Lord Titan, my crew is waiting for me at Knowhere. When do you plan to be done with those questions of yours?”

“You are a man too clever to ask this as though you do not know, Anthony Stark,” Thanos replied with an amused smile. “Such a natural-born commander as you should be aiming for much more than the control of Asgard. It is a conquest too insignificant for the likes of you.”

“It's not exactly about having the bigger stick. I just want to keep my realm peaceful,” Tony retorted, meeting the Titan's unnerving ice blue eyes.

“Peace is a temporary lie, Stark. Only the one with the bigger stick, as you say, will be left standing as time moves on.”

“It kind of sounds like you are threatening, Lord Titan.”

“Do you feel threatened?”

Tony did not answer. Thanos mouth split into what he probably called a smile, a scary thing of teeth and cruel amusement. It usually came to him when he was forcing Loki into some new degrading position, smiling as his slave seemed torn by the inner fight of his honor and the threat of whatever would be done to him if he challenged his master.

“I demand to be released, Thanos,” Tony said with a voice and articulation so fake it sounded like King Odin.

“You know already the answer I will give you,” Thanos said, still sounding amused.

“I'm done answering your questions. I will not collaborate with whatever insane invasion plans you are plotting.”

“Ah, but I believe you will. No,” Thanos said, seeing Tony steeling himself. “It would be a shame to break the likes of you into obediance. Do not fear that I will hurt you.”

“You don't seem shamed about hurting your other prisoners.”

“I'm not quite done with Loki yet,” Thanos smiled. “He is a different thing entirely. I'm sure you've come to appreciate that yourself. But you -it would be a mistake to damage you. I am a patient man and Death does not visit, Tony Stark. I know with time, you'll see reason. Shall I let you rest for today?”

It wasn't like there was much else to say after that, and so he had gone back to his room -his cell, rather. The door was open and he could have gone off and wandered around the Sanctuary, and he was quite sure the Chitauris wouldn't have stopped him, but he was trapped here nonetheless. Agitated, he had wondered if it had been stupid to confront Thanos openly. The Titan hadn't seem at all impressed by his refusal, but what if he took greater security measures? What if he wasn't allowed to see Loki anymore?

He had tried not to think about the threat. _With time_ , Thanos had said. It was a scary thought, to be plucked out of time, locked here with nothing to do but obey or disobey, with no hunger or thirst or even old age to tell him how long he had been on this damned rock away from the universe.

Sure, Jarvis and Rhodey and the rest of his crew would be worried, by now. But Tony had told them not to come look for him. And even if they did, what good would it do? Would they be captured as well? Used as hostages? Thanos didn't want to hurt Tony, he claimed, but would he use his friends to make him shift his views faster?

Perhaps the bastard was really overly confident, or perhaps he thought seeing Loki reduced to servitude would be a convincing warning for him, or perhaps he was even really just caught in his idea that he was treating Tony as a guest. Whatever the reason was, that night, Loki was sent to him as he had been near every night before, with his chin held high and his cunt still leaking semen as the Chitauris delivered him to Tony.

And before he could say,  _just lie down here,_ or,  _you don't have to_ , or,  _let's try to think, okay_ ?, Loki had moved on him. As before, he climbed on Tony's lap, pulled down his pants with surprising strenght and no hesitation, and then sat on his quickly hardening cock. Tony, with a hand half lifted to stop him, released a low breath. It was a strange sort of delightful defeat. He didn't understand anything. If he hadn't seen the fury in Loki's eyes so many times, he might have wondered if he was part of Thanos' plans to numb his mind.

“I think I told you yesterday... You're a bit too, um, straightforward, Loki.”

He used his name out loud, though he didn't know if Loki would be pleased about that. It felt reassuring to remember there was somebody else here to talk to, even if that guy couldn't talk back. Loki seemed unphased. He was grinding his hips against him, eyes shut. The gentle friction of his tight, wet entrance was pretty damn distracting.

“At least come down here,” he murmured, breath a bit short.

Loki obliged, leaning down to rest his chest on Tony's and leaning his head forward with evident purpose. Tony arched his back a little, the feeling of Loki's icy skin and the tightness around his length demanding some instant of contemplation. Then he brought his hand to Loki's neck, and started scratching his ring against the tight collar.

It was a little clumsy and in no way the most effective method. If he had dared, Tony would have given the ring to Loki to let him work at it faster; but with Loki being constantly naked and used, it wasn't like he could have hidden it anywhere Thanos wouldn't find. It was an unpleasant sort of practical thought, living around that horrible slavery like it was an inevitable routine.

He couldn't wait to be the hell out of here, and with Loki on his side.

The scratching of metal on metal was inaudible as Loki breathed short and low, as Tony himself couldn't stop his moans. Delightful, stomach churning moments passed, with the occasionnal change of pace. Tony's eyes were tightly closed, his lower body on fire. He tried not to claw at Loki's shoulder when he came. He had seen how disgruntled the Jötun had been to find the marks on his skin.

Loki stilled himself on top of him as soon as he felt his hot semen filling him. He stayed where he was for a long time, and when Tony opened his eyes, he was looking down at him with something like wondering. It was the least aggressive look Tony had ever seen on him.

“Uh, thanks. That was very nice,” he murmured a bit awkwardly, and he cupped his hand on the nape of his neck to keep scratching.

Loki, of course, said nothing. He shifted a little, resting his head on the pillow next to Tony's, and coincidentally freeing access to his neck. Tony felt more like taking a breather and maybe having an existential crisis, but he kept going. He owed at least that much to the small frost giant.

“Just so I know,” he mumbled, “do you happen to have any special skill that could be useful to a daring escape? Like... Hijacking spaceships, or...?”

He was pretty sure by now they could talk freely in here. Loki didn't seem alarmed, anyway. Or rather, he always seemed alarmed at very specific moments, gesturing for Tony to be quiet then, and relaxing once the unknown threat had vanished.

Now, Loki didn't seem alarmed. He looked at Tony, one eyebrow quirked. He really was quite expressive with his face, but his next gesture was even more explicit. He brought his right hand to his throat and slowly slid one slender finger on it.

“Ah.” Tony paused. “Wait, you mean what I think, yes? That's not, like -trying to escape will get us killed. That's not what you're saying, right?”

For the first time, the ghost of a smile seemed to round up Loki's cheeks, just a little bit. Then it was gone.

“Do you... Need any weapons, or...? No. You want the collar gone,” Tony understood out loud as Loki knocked a knuckle on the thick metal. “Then what? Is it preventing you from more than speaking? Is it -oh wait, you do magic? Is that it? You're a sorcerer!”

Loki had waved his fingers for emphasis, then lowered his hand back on the mattress. He simply nodded, not seeming pleased with Tony's shock. A sorcerer. Thanos had managed to enslave a sorcerer? Suddenly, Tony wondered. Was Loki's story what it had seemed? Thanos had called him a whore who had been made a slave after 'charging too high'. But Jötun sorcerers, they were a rare thing, even he knew that. They were powerful. Wild. Some said they weren't even Jötun, that they were spirits or ghosts or forces of nature formed into a body. Tony had never heard of a small Jötun seidr user, but Loki seemed pretty confident he could seriously kick Chitauri butts if given the chance.

At least, Tony had to believe that he would be satisfied with taking out the Chitauris.

After that night, their progress was careful, slow, and, in Tony's eyes, hysterical. He kept expecting Thanos to reveal he had known all along, or Loki to spit in his eye without any warning. Maybe it was just paranoia speaking. He wasn't good with captivity, had never been. But the metal collar was wearing thin in one spot; and since it turned out Thanos truly did not fear him enough to lock him up, he started walking around the base, looking at the Chitauris, registering their movements, starting to understand their ugly hisses of a language, and preparing for when the moment would come.

And, when it did, well.

Tony had known from the start that Loki was fierce. Since then, he had figured out he was perhaps also powerful.

It took until that moment for him to understand what Thanos meant when calling Loki 'something different'.

The collar had gone from a quarter of an inch thick to only two millimeters when they were separated one morning. Tony was hoping to finally manage to break it later that night or, at the latest, the day after that. He was feeling himself getting restless, maddened by the walls around him. When Loki almost forced himself on him at night, he sometimes felt like screaming at him or hyperventilating or sobbing like a child. They needed to go, fast. As soon as an opportunity arose, he would jump in and take a ship off this planet or die trying.

The opportunity came sooner than expected, though.

Loki had been gone for an hour, perhaps. Tony was not giving Thanos the satisfaction of going back to see him, and so he was sitting in his room-cell, trying to see if there was any way to hack into the Titan's complicated energitical networks with his own communicator -more to keep himself busy than because he believed he would manage. And suddenly, he heard an alarm blaring through the entire base, loud and nauseating with waves his body wasn't meant to manage.

He needed but a few seconds to get over his shock. He rushed to the door and was nearly trampled by a small regiment of Chitauris running at full speed through the hallway. They were screeching and arming their guns, and they ignored Tony as though he was no more significant than a speck on the wall.

They were speaking quickly, shouting rather, giving orders and directions, and Tony didn't get most of it. He did understand two of their most common words, though. The high pitched sound was something they spoke in endless respect. The other, they seemed to spit out painfully like it was foreign to them.

_Master. Loki_ .

Thanos. Loki.

Tony's blood rushed to his brain. He looked for a weapon, cursed himself for not at least trying to prepare something. He clicked on his uru ring, the same he had used to work at the collar, and a gauntlet unfolded from it, covering his entire hand. He had nothing more than two laser shots and sharp knuckles in the small thing -it was meant as a last minute tool, not a life-saving weapon. Still -it was better than nothing. Without taking the time to further worry about whether he would ever see the sun or his best friends or a nice pizza again, he rushed after the Chitauri troops.

The chaos came from Thanos' throne room. Chitauris were forming lines at the door and some of them were trying to yell orders, but their voices were drowned out by the sounds of what could only be a full-out battle. Tony could hear the piercing noises of guns and the screams of Chitauris going on and on. His chest constricted around his furiously beating heart. Jarvis? He wondered. Rhodey? Had they come for him?

That thought and the adrenaline rushed through his blood. He didn't hesitate any longer before running forward, forcefully slamming himself against the back of a smaller-than-average Chitauri. The alien cried out, surprised by the attack from the back, and fell face first toward the floor. Despite everything he could have imagined, the sight that greeted Tony as he quickly jumped over it was a shock.

It was a bloodbath. At least a dozen Chitauri bodies were scattered on the floor, but it was impossible to make a headcount -partially because several of the bodies were headless, and several heads were sitting in ponds of their dark blood, detached from their owner. The entire floor was glistening in blood and a mix of organic and mechanical entrails torn from shells of skin and metal. Those of the aliens that were still alive were shrieking in anger and terror, and firing their guns in desperate urgency.

And in the middle of it all was Loki.

A purple pan of fabric, torn at the edges, was tied around his thin hips, and seeing him clothed was so strange that for a small instant, Tony missed his inhuman  _smile_ .

Because Loki was being hit by the Chitauris' shots, and he didn't bleed. The collar was still there, covering his entire throat, except Loki's hands were lit with golden green light, and everytime he lifted one of them, a Chitauri fell, clutching at its torso as it fell apart as though a gigantic butcher knife had sliced it up, or screeching horrifyingly as they seemed to  _liquify_ .

Because Loki was laughing like a madman, except there was no voice to join the hysterical shudders of his body. He was smiling with his teeth showing and his eyes glinting maniacally. Without knowing why, Tony wondered if the Jötun was going to catch on fire, with how mad and powerful he seemed in the middle of the fight.

The Chitauris he had pushed through weren't in a hurry to get back at him; all their attention, all their gunshots were on Loki, trying to join their combined power to bring the Jötun down. They didn't seem to be getting anywhere, but Tony didn't hesitate. He twisted a joint around his thumb and pointed it at the row of aliens. The laser killed them much faster and more cleanly than Loki's magic might have.

He almost wanted to call at him, but was stuck by the paralysing thought that the Jötun might destroy him, indistinctively. It was too late, anyway. Loki was done with his Chitauris soldiers, and the noise of the bodies falling had brought his attention. 

For one terrifying instant, his red eyes were on Tony, full of vengeance and delight and madness. For one short, frozen in time instant, Tony thought he was about to die.

Then the Jötun jumped down from the throne where he had been standing. He made a circular gesture to show the piles of dead bodies, smiling at Tony in what seemed like a question.

“Impressive,” Tony choked out.

It was, apparently, the good answer. Loki smiled even wider, and made what might have been a mock bow, before tilting his chin at Tony. _Shall we?_ He seemed to be asking.

“We should get the hell out before Thanos sees this,” Tony said. “Let's get to a ship.”

Loki actually walked ahead of him as they made it through the hallways. His hands were twisting and shivering at his sides, full of magic waiting to be used, and his pace was that of a conqueror. Gone was Tony's foolish idea of rescuing the Jötun like a damsel in distress, gone the stupid thought that he would protect him. Loki walked like a warrior, certain of his skill, and when they met a row of three screaming Chitauris and Loki easily, mercilessly killed them, with a simple handwave and the cracking of multiple bones shattering from the inside- well, Tony was wondering who here was the damsel in distress.

They made it to the ships, amazingly. Loki growled in irritation at the heavy lock that kept the hangars closed, and Tony was pleased to be able to use his last laser shot to get it open. Within a few minutes, and with a dozen more Chitauri guards killed in gruesome ways, they made it to the small messenger ship Tony had already noticed as the fastest, easiest to pilot one. Loki looked at it in vague weariness while Tony took the pilot seat, then climbed next to him. The loud alarms were still blaring, the threat of more soldiers was imminent, as was the more worrisome prospect of Thanos himself making it after them. They had this one chance to leave, and for Tony to get his crew and his weapons back before Thanos could come after them. Adrenaline rushed through him as he checked the fuel level, the batteries, and quickly figured out the controls. Loki was ignoring the seatbelt and watching through the thick window in tension. His hands were still glowing with magic.

“How did you manage that? I thought the collar needed to be... Oh, uh, sure.”

Loki glowered at him, clearly not feeling like distracting himself with conversation. Tony shut up as he finished looking around, finding the main controls in odd places: of course, the ship was meant for Chitauri anatomy. Nevertheless, he was Tony Stark, not any commercial pilot. Within one long, stressful minutes, the engines started to growl underneath their seats.

“Ah! Here we go, baby!”

He manoeuvred the ship out of its dock, bumping against the ceiling in his hurry. Loki clutched to his seat, still not caring for the belt. Gunshots echoed around the hangar, but nothing seemed to hit the ship. Tony hurried them out, and it took his breathing in relief to realise Loki was holding his hands down in concentration. Had the Chitauris missed, or had their shotsbeen absorbed by magic?

“I'm going to Knowhere, you want a ride until there?” He asked with a breathless, hysterical laughter, as he pushed the ship at full speed through the vastness of the peaceful nothingness around their prison.

Loki actually smiled at that.

“We'll get that thing off of you as soon as possible,” Tony assured him quickly. “I'm guessing it's still restricting you -don't you worry, I got some good stuff on my ships. Ah! Odin's dick, we made it!” He shouted in relief and shaky joy as he managed the jump to hyperspeed. The Chitauris would have no chance to track them _now,_ and though Thanos would know where he was heading at, he was ahead of him. He breathed, then started again: “Alright, we got maybe two hours of flight. You want to -I think even the Chitauris have water rooms, if you want- I'll keep the wheel. Yeah?”

Loki didn't need to be told twice. He slipped out of his seat, holding at the makeshift loincloth that protected whatever was left of his decency, and Tony watched him having to lower his head to make it to the back of the ship. He thought, indistinctly, that they were starting back, as if nothing had happened. Not that he could pretend that nothing had happened -not that he could forget _anything_ of what had happened. Despite everything, he didn't think he _wanted_ to forget.

Although, Loki would probably want him to.

They'd have a lot to talk about, he thought, when the Jötun was free to speak again.

The flight was impossibly peaceful, considering the circumstances. Tony kept expecting to see enemy ships showing up on his radar, or some unknown inner mechanism to kill them both at a distance -but he just kept flying, and nothing interrupted. Loki didn't show back up until they were half an hour away from Knowhere, and Tony had to look back at him twice, amazed. With magic or mad sewing skills (or a mix of both, perhaps), Loki had transformed what had probably been a Chitauri Commander's coat into something that fit his lean and tall frame. It thickened his shoulders, made him somehow more fit to the murderous powers he had used earlier. Underneath the black leather coat, the torn purple fabric was gone, replaced by a black tunic and black leather pants. The only thing missing were shoes: his blue feet were still bare, and it was such an odd combination Tony missed the most important part.

The collar.

It was gone.

“I do not owe you answers.”

Loki's voice was much lighter than he would have imagined it. He had a refined accent and the articulation of a nobleman, with only a small rawness to it that implied it might have hurt to speak after all this time.

It was his _voice_. His words. Tony nearly sent them crashing with a passing by comet before he could stop gaping like an imbecile.

“You -oh my _God_ \- Loki, you removed it!”

“I do not owe you anything,” Loki started again, and it took him doing so for Tony to register what he had said the first time. “Nevertheless, I believe you _deserve_ to know.”

“That I- what? I -to know what? Oh my God, you're talking!”

Loki looked at him as if unimpressed by the remark. Tony didn't find it in him to apologise. It was -amazing. How? He wondered. How had this man survived the last few weeks, naked and abused and forced, and now -now he sat there, clothed and in control and speaking?

It was a show of strenght even more impressive than the magic, actually.

“The collar kept me from speaking,” Loki said. “The Titan didn't want me to find comfort nor pride in defending myself with my words. It was never meant to prevent me of using my magic.” He took a pause, not looking at Tony -whom was gaping in amazement. “Do not call me _baby_ again.”

“What? Did I- oh, you mean earlier- uh, sure, yeah, I didn't even mean -so, do I -do I call you Loki? Anyway, then, why didn't you-”

“You can call me Loki,” the giant interrupted, and his voice commanded silence and awe. He spoke like a king. No -better. Odin didn't have that kind of eloquence, and Loki didn't even seem to be _trying_. “My magic was trapped in another way. I blocked it myself.”

“I don't... I don't think I understand. Like, anything.”

Loki looked down at him. Tony had never been so struck by their difference in size before. It was suddenly making him a little uncomfortable.

“Thanos didn't want me as a whore or a _pet_ , no matter what he said. He wanted my magic. So when he captured me, I locked it up, away from his grip. I'll pass on the details. I don't expect an Asgardian to understand those things. He was using me, shaming me, to make me lose my grip.”

“Then why... You could have escaped-”

“I used to be a god,” Loki said. His voice was sounding a little more hoarse now, evidently exhausted by the conversation. Tony stared, as much as he could while driving, completely lost. “Sex was one of my things. Making my partners give themselves to me, making them desire and adore me. It gave me strenght. Thanos thought forcing me might make me use my magic despite myself, and he could take it from me. He was a fool.”

“You know, I consider myself something of a genius,” Tony said, as Loki remained silent for a few seconds. “But you're right. I don't get it.”

“Neither did Thanos. I didn't need the collar off to escape,” Loki said. “I needed to use someone who wasn't Thanos. In his arrogance, he thought to shame me by lending me to you. I used it to my advantage. You fed my magic, and I kept it a secret until I was ready to leave.”

“That's why-”

“Why I fucked you. Yes.”

It was so odd, to hear obscenities in his mouth. He made it sound like it was nothing. Tony was feeling a little dizzy with everything he didn't understand. Was it a Jötun thing? He didn't know much about Frost Giants, but he had a feeling that this was more a -a Loki thing.

“I would have killed you on my way out,” Loki said, with a peaceful voice, and Tony could feel him turn his head to look at him. “But, however futile your efforts, you tried to free me. For this, I would let you live.”

He had never been the damsel in distress. That much was obvious now. Tony didn't get it. He didn't know magic and godhood and he had never known anything about a Jötun god anyway. He didn't get what Thanos had wanted and what sort of battle he and Loki had fought, and he wanted to ask why not killing Thanos, he wanted to ask a lot of things, but he couldn't find words.

“You used me,” he finally remarked. It shouldn't have been what he noticed, considering everything, but it was there, big and painful in his chest.

“Yes,” Loki agreed. “I will not apologise. I thought you were using me, too.”

“I'm not -blaming you or anything. It's just... I... I think I don't get it yet.”

“Told you,” Loki said, and his voice sounded almost gentle now, almost playful. When Tony glanced at him, though, he was looking back through the windows, like nothing had happened. “I have been in exile for many ages. I must admit, I never expected a man of Asgard to have pity on a lost Jötun.”

“I don't treat people like Thanos. Not anyone.”

“Indeed,” Loki said.

Silence reigned for a few moments, with Tony's mind so full of questions he couldn't figure them out. He needed to sit down with a few books and figure out how magic and worship and sex worked all over again. But it -it could wait, he thought. Loki's plans were way ahead of him, but Loki himself... He thought he understood him. At least a bit.

“I'm meeting my crew back in Knowhere,” he said. “After that, I'm going back to Yggdrasil. I need to be there if Thanos tries anything. Do you-”

“Yes,” Loki said. “I'll take the lift back home, thank you.”

Anyone else would have been an asshole for talking that way, after everything that had happened. Or -actually, maybe Loki did sound like an asshole, yes.

Tony decided it was good enough. They had a long way home for him to figure out that weird man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love comments. I love love love them. Also my birthday is coming up.

**Author's Note:**

> I feed mostly on comments. Thank you.


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